Writing Features

A feature is...

Generally speaking, a feature is anything other than an actual report of a "hard news" event. Features can still refer to such events, but illuminate some aspect of the event rather than reporting the event itself.

For instance, if the first day of a murder trial is the "hard news" event, a feature might be an article about the town where the trial is taking place. You might write a feature on a trend in education, or one that traces the impact of cocaine use on a particular family.

Features can also be on "soft news": issues that don't have major consequences for the audience, but which have "human interest"-that is, they provide some compelling or entertaining insight on human experience. They can be light and entertaining, such as an article about the best and worst donuts in town.